First time bidding electronically?

Follow the steps below to prepare yourself for electronic bidding. It can take 7 days to be completely ready for electronic bidding, start the process as quickly as possible.

Is the project an electronic bidding project?

On the project advertisement page the project will be labeled as "ELECTRONIC BIDDING PROJECT", also the link to order your bid book will be labeled as "Download Electronic Bid Book" on electronic bidding projects. On electronic bidding projects, bids may only be submitted to Caltrans electronically, no paper bids will be accepted for electronic bidding projects

Receive your Bidder ID number

To receive your Bidder ID number, you must submit a request for your Bidder ID number to: Office Engineer, MS43, Department of Transportation, 1727 30th Street, Sacramento, CA, 95816-7005, or the request can be faxed to (916)227-6282. The request for Bidder ID number must be on your company letterhead, and it must contain your full legal company name, address, phone number and fax number. For faster response, include an email address to which the Bidder ID number will be sent.

When you have received your Bidder ID number, you can begin the process to establish your Digital ID. Your Digital ID is established through Bidx.com. Follow the directions found in the Bidx Training Center, or call the Bidx help desk at 1-888-352-2439 to establish your Digital ID. Your Digital ID is your electronic signature, allowing you to electronically submit your bid to Caltrans through Bidx. The Digital ID process can take several days, as notarized paperwork must be sent to Bidx before your Digital ID can be enabled.

Download and complete the electronic bidding form

Select the "Download Electronic Bid Book" link from the Caltrans Project Advertisement website, follow the directions on each webpage, and download the electronic bid file.
The electronic bid file will be named Contract#.EBS. DO NOT CHANGE THE FILE NAME! If you are not given an opportunity to select where to download the file to, it will most likely be downloaded to your Documents/Downloads folder.
Follow the Electronic Bidding Guide to help you complete your electronic bid form.

Test your system, by submitting a bid

When your Digital ID has been enabled you may submit a bid to Caltrans through Bidx to test your system. Upon successful bid submission, you will receive a Bid Submittal Receipt from the Bid software. This receipt indicates the time that your bid was submitted. After verifying that your system works, you may withdraw your bid, or you may submit another bid. Caltrans will only see the last bid submitted, and will not see any withdrawn bid. If you have any issues with submitting your bid, you may contact the Bid Express Help Desk at 1-(888)352-2439.

Electronic bidding addenda

Electronic bidding addenda files have the form of Contract#.001, .002, .003, etc. The number indicates which addenda the file is for. Example 10-ABC123.002 is the second EBS amendment file for contract 10-ABC123

The EBS amendment files are available for download from the same location the Addenda are posted to on the Caltrans website, in each Addenda's E-Bid folder

Download the EBS amendment file from the Caltrans website, and save the file to the same location that the base EBS file is saved to. If you are not given the opportunity to select where to save the file to, it is most likely in your Documents/Downloads folder.

DO NOT CHANGE THE FILE NAME OF THE EBS, OR EBS AMENDMENT FILES!The EBS file should have a file name of Contrac#.EBS, and the EBS Amendment file should have a file name of Contract#.001, depending on which addenda it refers to

Open the base EBS file, and a window will open indicating the changes applied by the addenda. Save the EBS file before closing the Bid software

Electronic bid bonds can now be submitted with your electronic bid. For more information, have your surety agent contact either SurePath or Surety 2000 for more information.

Energy Crisis Information

It is possible that a power outage may occur during a Bid Opening. The following is a brief description of how the Bid Opening will be conducted in the event of a power outage. Please allot an appropriate amount of time for power related delays when submitting your bids. In the event of a power outage prior to Bid Opening (12:30 PM or later):

Bids will be accepted until the specified bid opening date and time

No additional time will be allowed for submitting Bids

The public reading of the bids will be postponed until 4:00 PM on the date of bid opening

If power has not been restored by 4:00 PM on the date of Bid Opening, the Department will reschedule the opening of bids for the following day

Bid results will be made available on the Office Engineer website, as soon as possible, after power has been restored.

In the event of a power outage during a Bid Opening:

The last project downloaded will be read, by flashlight if necessary

The public will be escorted out of the building by Building Security

Any projects remaining to be downloaded, will not be downloaded until power is restored

Bid opening will resume at 4:00 PM, if power has been restored

If power has not been restored by 4:00 PM on the date of Bid Opening, the Department will reschedule the opening of bids for the following day

Electronic Bidding update

Caltrans has chosen the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials, Trns*port Expedite Bid software as its electronic bidding solution. Expedite is integrated with Info Tech's Bid Express Internet Bidding Service (Bidx) for the submittal of electronic bids through the internet.
More information regarding Expedite Bid can be found at the Expedite product website at https://www.infotechfl.com/. More information regarding Bidx can be found at the Bidx website at https://www.bidx.com For questions regarding electronic bidding, contact the Caltrans Contract Awards Unit at (916)227-6299.